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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Last night Dr. Rob came with his lucky charm Josh, his undergrad assistant to try again to catch Ned. He was successful. Ned was able to grab one free mouse, then the net came up, and the second mouse was costly. He then covered Ned with a falcon cover which immediately calmed the very angry and disapproving owl. He brought him into our kitchen and proceeded to attach the radio which looks like a little backpack. You can see all the photos at:

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Nellie has checked out the nesting box four times in the last month just making sure everything is in order. She'll look around the box and then go in and try out different spots to sit. The camera we have is motion activated so it only records when the motion sensor is triggered so that's how we know that she has checked it out. There have also been several squirrels who have checked it out and one very large and creeeeeeepy spider.Pretty consistently, Nellie wakes up around dusk and hoots to Ned to say, "I'm up. Where is my breakfast." Ned, like most males when they are asked to do something, will be slow to respond. When he does, he'll say, "I'm on it." and then continue to perch. In his defense, owls hunt by looking for things that move so they get the perfect vantage point by being high up in a tree. For much of the time, Ned and Nellie hang out at the Duke Mansion or the south end of Edgehill Park (by our house). Given the creek and the terrain, it's a good feeding ground for mice, voles, crayfish, and small birds.This is a photo from last year when Dr. Rob caught Nellie and was going to band her but realized that she had already been banded so that's how he knew who she was. He has named her mate Ned and will try later on to catch him to band and put a transmitter on him. You can tell them apart by their size-Ned is much smaller. Videos uploads will come soon.